YOUR 2012 Timbers Starting Lineup / Formation

Now that our roster appears more-or-less settled for the 2012 year and our team appears considerably deeper than 1 year ago, it's time for the inevitable silly-season arguments about who should be our starting lineup.

I'm not trying to prognosticate who Spenny will start, but I'd like to hear from you about who YOU think should take the field in just a few weeks' time.

I met him yesterday! He wasn't nearly as big as I'd expected. I think we are very deep at centerback now and he's a project for the future. I doubt he gets much of any playing time this year, but he'll probably fill in at some point.

Now that our roster appears more-or-less settled for the 2012 year and our team appears considerably deeper than 1 year ago, it's time for the inevitable silly-season arguments about who should be our starting lineup.

I'm not trying to prognosticate who Spenny will start, but I'd like to hear from you about who YOU think should take the field in just a few weeks' time.

I think your lineup is good, and exactly what I expect Spencer to put out onto the field, except that I expect Futty to start instead of Mosquera. We have a great squad this year, and it makes me very happy that we're so deep all over the field.

[LINEUP-4-3-3]Alexander,Perlaza,Songo,Jewsbury,Nagbe,Chara,Chabala,Brunner,Futty,Palmer,Perkins[/LINEUP-4-3-3]
Is what i would like to see.

[LINEUP-4-4-2]Perlaza,Boyd,Nagbe,Jewsbury,Chara,Songo,Chabala,Brunner,Futty,Palmer,Perkins[/LINEUP-4-4-2]
Is what we will see.

Boyd already has a knock but Merritt will want him on the pitch opening day. Will probably pull his hammy. Nagbe will continue to be relegated to a wide position just so Jewsbury can slot in and run around and do nothing as usual.

Zizzo is unfortunately really the odd man out. I'd have him behind Khalif coming off the bench so unless Songo'o and Darlington need to both come out I don't see a ton of playing time for him with the big team. That line up is essentially exactly what I'd like to see happen. Honestly, that lineup excites me quite a bit!

And honestly, I wouldn't mind seeing Wallace getting some playing time on the wing either. With Costa Rica he looked pretty good there. But I think that we are in a pretty good position for 2012!

As an aside, Alexander has been getting a lot of love from the coaching staff in recent quotes / news articles, but I don't see him as a forward and just can't seem to find a place for him in midfield at someone else's expense. Wasn't blown away by him last year, not sure how the rest of you feel about him...

Boyd can't play up top by himself. He needs a buddy. I like your thought but Boyd and Perlaza up top I think is the best b/c Perlaza has the drive and Boyd has the physicality up top. Boyd would fail up top alone and those 3 would spend a lot of time in the mid. And why is Chabala suddenly the odd man out? Wallace isn't a back, he's a winger. I'd take Chabala 10 times out of 10 over Wallace.

Don't want to read too too much into one exhibition game, but Mosquera didn't look impressive at all last night. He's physical, but showed bad touch on the ball and questionable decision-making. Hopefully he was just cold, but at the moment I'm not sure he's an upgrade over what was there already. AJB surprised me though - showed good speed and moved the ball better than Mosquera. I don't think he's ready to start, because of the lack of consistency you'd expect from a rookie which showed itself on the SJ goal, but I'd think it's possible he displaces Mosquera/Footy some time in the season.

I also can't understand the TalkTimbers love for Perlaza. On other teams, Chad Barrett and pre-rebirth Oduro are mercilessly run down. I LIKE hard-working players who pressure the defense and can't score, something about the futility of life, but I will be aggrieved if Nagbe is coming off the bench or stuck defending on the wing so Jorge can knock balls into touch off his shins.

Don't want to read too too much into one exhibition game, but Mosquera didn't look impressive at all last night. He's physical, but showed bad touch on the ball and questionable decision-making. Hopefully he was just cold, but at the moment I'm not sure he's an upgrade over what was there already. AJB surprised me though - showed good speed and moved the ball better than Mosquera. I don't think he's ready to start, because of the lack of consistency you'd expect from a rookie which showed itself on the SJ goal, but I'd think it's possible he displaces Mosquera/Footy some time in the season.

I also can't understand the TalkTimbers love for Perlaza. On other teams, Chad Barrett and pre-rebirth Oduro are mercilessly run down. I LIKE hard-working players who pressure the defense and can't score, something about the futility of life, but I will be aggrieved if Nagbe is coming off the bench or stuck defending on the wing so Jorge can knock balls into touch off his shins.

Lots of opinions out there about what went wrong over the last 2 matches. Here's my 2 cents worth:

Last week, it seemed prudent to sub Marcelin for Nagbe and Songo'o for Perlaza when protecting a lead. In reality, it made us too defensive and took away any speedy counterattack that would have opened up in the late stages of the match.

I like a midfield diamond too, but I don't like Jewsbury at the top. Some other thoughts:
- Nagbe belongs off the front line, so he can run at defenders with the ball.
- Palmer (or whoever our RB is) needs to have someone good in front of him.
- The more Songo'o, Nagbe and Alexander play together, the better we are.

How to solve?

1. Sit Jewsbury? Perhaps the time has come. Our best game in franchise history (vs LAG last year) was with Jack suspended. Chara can do everything Jack can, with more pace and fewer wasted touches. We don't need Jack for set pieces anymore -- Songo'o can fill that need.

3. Switch to the French 4-2-3-1 (maybe looking more like Bob Bradley's empty bucket formation with Nagbe as withdrawn forward). Sacrifices some speed up top, leaves Boyd alone, and makes us very dependent on Nagbe to carry the load, but has more defensive coverage for the back line.